It's a typical Sunday morning and as usual, I'm the first one up and the house is incredibly quiet. It's the perfect time to get a little reflective and it's my Dad that got me going this morning.

He spent the afternoon here yesterday, stayed for dinner and as we were cleaning up the kitchen, he started talking about his old friends. Dad is 92. My Mother passed away a year and a half ago.

I'm not sure what even brought up the topic, but in summary, he's only got two other friends still living. One of them has lost the battle to severe dementia and is in a nursing home, so that really just leaves his friend, Mort. He wasn't expressing the fact with sadness though, but more of "wow" factor and marveling at the fact that he's still here.

We didn't really talk about it that much, but when I went to bed last night I was thinking about the element of time. It's the one thing we NEVER have enough of and yet it's our most wasted commodity. The younger we are the harder it is to imagine time ever running out and the older we are, the more we want to pack into every 24 hour period.

I found a quote by Einstein that so appropriately describes my Dad...

"Do not grow old, no matter how long you live. Never cease to stand like curious children before the Great Mystery into which we were born."

He's never lost his awe of the world, technology and the miracle of life. He doesn't understand his computer, but he loves being on it, especially when he's looking at pictures of his great grandchildren. Just like Einstein, he's still just as curious as he was when he was a kid!

The image to the right was taken two weeks ago by a very good friend, Bob Coates. I'm going to talk about it in a Luminary Corner post tomorrow morning, because of how it was captured and why. But right now, it's the perfect segue to the other other half of a "then and now" pair of images. The one above, with me about two years old with Dad, is obviously the "then".

Time, where did it go?

So, consider this a request to add to your New Year's resolutions... let's all stop wasting time. Let's make every minute count. All of you know how to focus your cameras...well, let's all focus on our lives and what's really important. Focus on the challenges you have building your skill set to be the very best. Focus on your relationships and spend your time with people who matter. Walk away from the negative people in your life - you don't have time to change them, but maybe if they're wasting their time instead of yours, they'll come back at some point.

For this Sunday morning, hug somebody important to you. Don't waste a minute of your day on things that just aren't important. And last on this list, remember that taking a break from thinking about your business and just dreaming through all the "what ifs" isn't wasting time. It's about recharging your battery and just might be the greatest utilization of time you can find!

Happy Sunday everybody - wishing you the same message my good buddy, Matthew Jordan Smith, shares at the end of everything he writes...

"Why?"

Check out"Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog.It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're coming up on 100 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

Authors

Skip Cohen is President of SCU, founder of Marketing Essentials International and past president of Rangefinder Publishing and WPPI. He's been an active participant in the photographic industry since joining Hasselblad USA in 1987 as president. He has co-authored six books on photography and actively supports dozens of projects each year involving photographic education.

Scott Bourne

Scott Bourne was the first Dean of Marketing at SCU. He helped to establish this blog as a resource for aspiring and working professional photographers. He's an educator, artist, author and from time to time you'll see his name on guest posts that are always relevant to photography and marketing!